geek | armin arlert

i know your secret

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"should we order taco bell?"

was sasha's initial response to hitch's very random meltdown about some ongoing argument with marlo, the one guy who supposedly hadn't phased her at all. key word: supposedly. give it a week tops before they hard launch as a couple, and you know what, it'd be surprisingly cute.

the comment was made in attempt to be uplifting, a helpful hand patting the champagne blondes back in additional comfort. but hitch raises her head and stares the foodie dead on, this look of absolute horror, "i can't eat taco bell i'm on an all carb diet, god sasha you're so stupid!"

then got up and marched to the body-length mirror, seeking reassurance from the reflection, the only person who could truly understand her. sasha just sits there confused as always, unsure what she possibly could've said wrong this time. truthfully, hitch was a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any time, there was no right or wrongs.

"wouldn't tacos be considered a carb?" ymir silently questioned while judging tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. the terrible commitment issues showed in the way she dieted, treating them like trial subscriptions. on monday she was a nutritionist, by wednesday was emotionally eating cheese fries at lunch.

eventually the attention turns towards you, who'd been finishing the final touches of historias glamour makeup look, "tonight's your night (y/n)." ymir is casually laying while waving a singular dorito around like a wand, "we should commemorate accordingly. i'm talking legal name change, pizza roll shrine, and matching tattoos. i know a guy."

"of course you do." you chuckle, as sasha tries stealing the chips away while the tomboys clutching onto the bedpost for balance because she'd been laughing too hard, "no commemoration, let's just let loose and have fun."

the girls all hold their shaky breathes and concerned looks when seeing how happy you were about celebrating tonight.

to others it was just an excuse to party and have a few drinks on the weekend, passing an exam was an overt task after all. but they of all people knew how happy it made you excelling enough to get a passing grade, so they'd go along with the appointed celebration idea regardless.

and yet tonight would probably go to rack and ruins with a certain somebodies malicious doing.

"is armin coming?"

they'd come to accept the nerds presence, especially with the help he'd lent their own friend. they knew he was now a respectable friend not just to you but the friend group, not just a dweeb but a good natured person.

conversely, historia and ymir figured out enough to hit the core truth of the relationship long ago. the unrelenting fondness the two exchanged irregardless if they had shown it upfront or not. at least to them it was as if you'd worn your heart on your sleeve, but that must've not been the case bearing in mind their two other friends lack of realization.

maybe they could read people easier due to being slightly more intuitive, but then again sasha and hitch were not the brightest colors in the coloring box, so it couldn't be that unsuspecting.

"yeah, he was the one who made it happen after all."

after reiner had announced sudden unanticipated interest in you at yesterdays lunchtime — not interest romantically, interest in means of bets and such — they hadn't known whether to beat him to the punch or not.

how would it look telling a friend their long time crush was finally about to pull some moves, but then retracting the joy instantly by admitting it was all for entertainment rather than real attraction.

that was for surely not going to come across well. for one thing, it would be embarrassing being confronted like this about it, but the actual entanglement in the situation would've been even more humiliating.

also, the night would be ruined before it even started. the high you'd been feeling after a huge success would just be flushed down the toilet.

and finally, it may give off the impression as trying to tear you down. just maybe you'd see it as them enkindling your downfall.

could they trust his words of confession? we're they real or a lie to cover up his ill-advised actions? if they were, the warning in advance would come back to bite their ass in the end.

you however knew and trusted their doubts about braun, but couldn't deny the attraction for him. he was hot, what more was there to say? perhaps they didn't agree, but several of the other girls on the cheer squad saw it too, and all the normies couldn't deny it either.

even if he wasn't anything like the guys in romance novels, had no qualities wanted in a relationship, and was about as reliable as a toothpick, he was still your 'dream guy.'

so the girls really couldn't do anything about it, and they knew this. they knew that even with a brief caution message beforehand, you were your own person and would act to it as you pleased.

all they could do was watch and see, and maybe biting their tongue out of ignorance made them bad friends, but they'd end up beating reiners ass anyways if it truly had been all a facade.

hitch and sasha took a quick trip to the kitchen for low-carb-high-protein snacks while ymir was on the phone trying to crack a free-pizza deal with the delivery boy, one of her goons.

even if historia could pay for as many pizzas as pleased with a simple swipe of a card, ymir felt as though her own endeavors would be more valuable, even if she were poor.

"i know your secret."

a cold rush came down from head to toe, leaving an embarrassing amount shock and fear. it was like a dear caught in headlights. it might've seemed suspicious, but there wasn't much you hadn't told historia. not that you had much to hide beside the entirety of your childhood, and every diary entry ever.

so yeah, not much. she knew just about everything else, from embarrassing to downright nasty.

but here and now, she's looking up like you knew exactly what the secret might've been. nope, no clue, and it didn't help when she said, "you like armin arlert."

the statement was a bit anticlimactic. could you even call this a secret? no, because it was so untrue it was almost funny how far off she'd been.

but it appeared everyone had came to this conclusion, including his own friends who'd mentioned it yesterday, going as far as to egg you on with the brought up attention to him and annie talking. truthfully, just remembering the sight was a bit infuriating, but there wasn't much to say about it. your feelings had been a whirlpool recently, thinking about it too much just ended up hurting your head, so tonight it'd have to be disregarded for the mean time.

"no way!"

however the awkward grin followed by a stupid chuckle that sounded incredibly forced definitely didn't go unnoticed. if historia originally had been doubting the thought, she'd just gotten reassurance without even having to muster another word. a teasing little witch smirk sprawled out on her lips youd just over lined.

"way."

you cursed yourself for being so readable but couldn't escape the image of armins flustered face. closing your eyes tightly totally did not help, it's as if the sight was painted perfectly on your eyelids. everytime they closed to create darkness there it was, the sight of him.

"he's just a friend."

god were you wrong.